On Stupidity...

Another great article on T-Nation that is worth a read. The first point really is the most important thing to consider, it is from here that all else will manifest.

The number of people I know who train to be bodybuilders or figure competitors (I don't know if there is a difference...) is incredibly small but the number of people I know and see doing bodybuilding 'workouts' is unfortunately large. The synaptic connection doesn't get made either by those designing the programs or those doing the routines... fitness miseducation is alarmingly rife!

It won't be a surprise to anyone that the type of training we do comes most broadly under the wonderful Crossfit acronym of GPP (general physical preparedness). While I can only speak for myself, the training we do is, by design, not specific to any particular persuit of athletic achievement but to be ready for 'anything' and to increase overall 'fitness' (as that term fits most closely with the Crossfit definition).

That isn't to say we don't take an interest in more detailed training analysis or specific principles, Gym Jones is one amazing resource that takes GPP to the next level but there are plenty more (some in the links sidebar on the right).

We also spend quantities of time discussing and persuing related topics like the mind-body connection (see Damon's and Stef's personal blogs on the subject) and the influence of spirit, will, knowledge, responsibility and respect on all aspects of life including how you train.

Taking a generalist approach doesn't mean having a slap-dash attitude to training either. We each spend countless hours mapping personal pathways to improvement and have often espoused the benefits of setting specific goals, measuring progress often and reassessing.

We don't sell anything here. We are on a journey of knowing by doing and dropping breadcrumbs along the way. There is no end game, the means is enough to drive us forward so you better jump on board or get out of the way!

Recommended Reading

I highly suggest everyone take a few minutes out to read this interview with Mark Rippetoe over on T-Nation.

Not often these days do you find such a succinct, quality set of guidelines and advice from a well-recognised expert. Anyone not familiar with Coach Rip should immediately check out his facility Crossfit Wichita Falls and all of the instructional videos on the Crossfit media site.

Back to the article, I think we can relate to this from some of the SB sessions:

"For an actual, no shit, set of 20 squats, you're going to pick a weight that you previously thought was your 10-rep max. And you're going to do 10 reps with it. Then you're going to do the 11th rep, and you're gonna breathe a little bit. And finally, you're gonna finish the 19th rep, and Jesus is gonna be talking to you about this time."

Sweat Blood!!

"Our warmup is your workout"

While I don't especially agree with the entire sentiment or the words used, this small blog post about Crossfit and Coach Glassman made some sense to me.

This quote more than anything:

"Of all the things I hate about exercise culture, the most hateful is the pontificating about form. Exercise should be kind of primitive and stupid and entirely physical; it should not require flourishes and perfect sneakers and 10 sessions of learning minutiae before you even break a sweat."

It resonates with a post I made some months back.

Move. Move fast, move lots, add weight.

Top Ten!

After today's session Stef and I got to talking about bang for your buck exercises, he was opining that the TGU would be in his top 5 while I wouldn't have even thought about it.

So we thought it would be a cool idea to see what everyones top ten bang for your buck, most enjoyable, don't leave home without it, strength/power exercises are; basically, if you could only take 10 with you to a desert island, what would they be?

Feel free to rank them if you want but it isn't necessary.

We are at about the 12 month mark of when we started training together so this will be interesting to look back on in the future too!

Post your list in the comments.

- grover